Douglas Hyland Named As Juror For Tenth Annual SOLOS Exhibition

The Westport Arts Center has announced that Douglas Hyland, Former Director of the New Britain Museum of American Art (NBMAA) in New Britain, CT, has been named as the juror for the tenth annual SOLOS member artist exhibition.

SOLOS 2016, generously sponsored by Cohen & Wolf, P.C., is open to all Westport Arts Center members who have not exhibited in SOLOS for the past three years. The exhibition will be on view from June 24 – August 20, 2016.

Hyland served as Director of the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, CT from 1999 – 2015. During Hyland’s tenure at the NBMAA, the museum’s holdings more than tripled to more than 14,000 items, the number of docents increased from 35 to 117, memberships rose from 1,500 to 3,800, staff from 19 to 46, and the endowment from $9 million to $21 million.

His previous directorships were at the San Antonio (Texas) Museum of Art, the Birmingham (Alabama) Museum of Art and the Memphis (Tennessee) Brooks Museum of Art.

“By serving as juror for SOLOS I will have the opportunity to become acquainted with many artists of exceptional talent, most for the first time, and together we can mark the tenth anniversary of this eye-opening Westport celebration of American creativity,” said Hyland.

Amanda Innes, the Westport Arts Center’s Acting Executive Director, stated, “We are honored to have such an accomplished juror for our SOLOS 2016member exhibition. SOLOS 2016 is celebrating ten years of talented artists, diverse works of art, and renowned jurors.”

SOLOS is one way in which the Arts Center celebrates the artistic talent and diversity of its artist members. Now in its tenth year, SOLOS is designed to discover and showcase new works of art by talented artists in the region, and also helps new artists discover the Westport Arts Center.

The SOLOS exhibition has historically featured esteemed jurors including Richard Klein, Exhibitions Director of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT (SOLOS 2015), Patricia Hickson, the Emily Hall Tremaine Curator of Contemporary Art at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT, and Ian Berry, Associate Director and the Susan Rabinowitz Malloy ’45 Curator of the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College.

Last year, SOLOS 2015 generated close to 200 artist proposals for consideration, and out of this pool of talent, eight artists were selected to showcase 33 artworks in total.

SOLOS 2016 will feature up to eight artists. Submissions should be from a single body of work and are due by May 13, 2016. The entry fee for SOLOS 2016 is $35/artist and $25 for young artists (ages 25 and under). Full submission guidelines are available on westportartscenter.org.

The Arts Center will notify all artists on June 1, 2016. For any questions on eligibility, submission guidelines or the SOLOS 2016 exhibition, please contact the Westport Arts Center at 203.222-7070 or visit westportartscenter.org.

About The Juror

Douglas Hyland served as Director of the New Britain Museum of American Art for sixteen years during which two buildings were constructed and over 6,000 art works were acquired. He has curated more than a hundred exhibitions and written on a wide range of topics from fakes and forgeries to 19th century French artists to contemporary art. He also served as director of the Memphis, Birmingham and San Antonio Museums of Art over his 35-year career as an art museum director. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his doctorate in art history from the University of Delaware. Dr. Hyland lives in West Hartford, Connecticut, with his wife Professor Alice Hyland.

About the Westport Arts Center

The Westport Arts Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting community through the arts, reaches more than 11,000 people annually through outstanding programs in visual arts, arts education, and the performance arts of Chamber music and jazz.